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Ere sin threw a blight'o'er the spirit's young bloom,
Or earth had profaned what was born for the skies. SOUND THE LOUD TIMBREL.

MIRIAM'S SONG.
Mourn not for her, the young Bride of the Vale,'
Our gayest and loveliest, lost to us now,

Air-Avison.'
Ere life's early lustre had time to grow pale,

And the garland of love was yet fresh on her brow! “ And Miriam, the Prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a Oh! then was her moment, dear spirit, for flying timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her From this gloomy world, while its gloom was un- with timbrels and with dances.”—Exod. xv. 20.

known And the wild hymns she warbled so sweetly, in dying, Sound the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea !

Were echoed in heaven by lips like her own! Jehovah has triumph’d-his people are free. Weep not for her,-in her spring-time she flew Sing-for the pride of the tyrant is broken, To that land where the wings of the soul are un- His chariots, his horsemen, all splendid and brave furl'd,

How vain was their boasting !—The Lord hath but And now, like a star beyond evening's cold dew,

spoken, Looks radiantly down on the tears of this world. And chariots and horsemen are sunk in the wave.

Sound the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea!

Jehovah has triumph'd,-his people are free. THE TURF SHALL BE MY FRAGRANT Praise to the Conqueror, praise to the Lord ! SHRINE.

His word was our arrow, his breath was our sword!

Who shall return to tell Egypt the story
Air-STEVENSON.

Of those she sent forth in the hour of her pride ? The turf shall be my fragrant shrine;

For the Lord hath look'd out from his pillar of glory, 2 My temple, Lord ! that Arch of thine ;

And all her brave thousands are dash'd in the tide. My censer's breath the mountain airs,

Sound the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea!
And silent thoughts my only prayers.? Jehovah has triumph’d,—his people are free.
My choir shall be the moonlight waves,
When murmuring homeward to their caves,
Or when the stillness of the sea,
Even more than music, breathes of Thee!

GO, LET ME WEEP!

Air-STEVENSON.
I'll seek, by day, some glade unknown,
All light and silence, like thy throne !

Go, let me weep! there's bliss in tears,

When he who sheds them inly feels And the pale stars shall be, at night, *The only eyes that watch my rite.

Some lingering stain of early years

Effaced by every drop that steals. Thy heaven, on which 't is bliss to look,

The fruitless showers of worldly woe Shall be my pure and shining book,

Fall dark to earth, and never rise; Where I shall read, in words of flame,

While tears that from repentance flow, The glories of thy wondrous name.

In bright exhalement reach the skies.

Go, let me weep! there's bliss in tears, I'll read thy anger in the rack

When he who sheds them inly feels That clouds awhile the day-beam's track;

Some lingering stain of early years
Thy mercy in the azure hue

Effaced by every drop that steals.
Of sunny brightness breaking through !
There's nothing bright, above, below,

Leave me to sigh o'er hours that flew
From flowers that bloom to stars that glow,

More idly than the summer's wind, But in its light my soul can see

And, while they pass'd, a fragrance threw,

But left no trace of sweets behind.Some feature of the Deity!

The warmest sigh that pleasure heaves There's nothing dark, below, above,

Is cold, is faint to those that swell But in its gloom I trace thy love,

The heart where pure repentance grieves And meekly wait that moment when

O’er hours of pleasure loved too well! Thy touch shall turn all bright again!

Leave me to sigh o'er days that flew

More idly than the summer's wind,

And, while they pass'd, a fragrance threw, 1 This second verse, which I wrote long after the first,

But left no trace of sweets behind. alludes to the fate of a ery lovely and amiable girl, the daughter of the late Colonel Bainbrigge, who was married tn Ashbourne church, October 31, 1815, and died of a fever in a few weeks after: the sound of her marriage-bells seem- 1 I have so altered the character of this air, which is ed scarcely out of our ears when we heard of her death. from the beginning of one of Avison's old-fashioned conDuring her last delirium she sung several hymns, in a voice certos, that, without this acknowledgment, it could hardly even clearer and sweeter than usual, and among them were I think, be recognised. some from the present collection (particularly, “There's 2 " And it came to pass, that, in the morning-watch, the nothing bright but Heaven,'') which this very interesting Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians, through the girl had often heard during the summer.

pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the 2 Pii orant tacite.

Egyptians.”—Exod. xiv. 24.

As still to the star of its worship, though clouded, COME NOT, OH LORD!

The needle points faithfully o'er the dim sea, Air-HAYDN.

So, dark as I roam, in this wintry world shrouded, COME not, oh Lord ! in the dread robe of splendour

The hope of my spirit turns trembling to thee, Thou worest on the Mount, in the day of thine ire;

My God! trembling to theeCome veil'd in those shadows, deep, awful, but tender,

True, fond, trembling, to thee: Which Mercy flings over thy features of fire !

So, dark as I roam, in this wintry world shrouded,

The hope of my spirit turns trembling to thee! Lord! thou rememberest the night, when thy nation'

Stood fronting her foe by the red-rolling stream; On Egypt? thy pillar frown'd dark desolation,

BUT WHO SHALL SEE.
While Israel bask'd all the night in its beam.

Air-STEVENSON.
So, when the dread clouds of anger'enfold thee, But who shall see the glorious day;
From us, in thy mercy, the dark side remove;

When, throned on Zion's brow,
While shrouded in terrors the guilty behold thee,

The Lord shall rend that veil away
Oh! turn upon us the mild light of thy Love!

Which hides the nations now !!
When earth no more beneath the fear

Of his rebuke shall lie ;?
WERE NOT THE SINFUL MARY'S TEARS.

When pain shall cease, and every tear

Be wiped from every eye!3
Air-STEVENSON.
WERE not the sinful Mary's tears

Then, Judah! thou no more shalt mourn
An offering worthy heaven,

Beneath the heathen's chain ;
When o'er the faults of former years

Thy days of splendour shall return,
She wept—and was forgiven ?-

And all be new again.4

The Fount of Life shall then be quaff'd
When, bringing every balmy sweet

In peace, by all who come !5
Her day of luxury stored,

And every wind that blows shall waft
She o'er her Saviour's hallow'd feet

Some long-lost exile home!
The precious perfumes pour'd ;-
And wiped them with that golden hair,
Where once the diamond shone,

ALMIGHTY GOD!
Though now those gems of grief were there

CHORUS OF PRIESTS.
Which shine for God alone!

Air-MOZART.
Were not those sweets so humbly shed, -

ALMIGHTY God! when round thy shrine
That hair--those weeping eyes,-

The palm-tree's heavenly branch we twine, And the sunk heart, that inly bled,

(Emblem of Life's eternal ray, Heaven's noblest sacrifice ?

And Love that “ fadeth not away,”)

We bless the flowers, expanded all,”
Thou that hast slept in error's sleep,

We bless the leaves that never fall,
Oh wouldst thou wake in heaven,

And trembling say,

“ In Eden thus Like Mary kneel, like Mary weep,

The Tree of Life may flower for us!" “ Love much”3—and be forgiven !

When round thy cherubs, smiling calm

Without their flames, we wreath the palm, AS DOWN IN THE SUNLESS RETREATS. 1 “And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the Air-Haydn.

covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread

over all nations."- Isaiah xxv. 7. As down in the sunless retreats of the ocean,

2 "The rebuke of his people shall be take away from off

all the earth.”Isaiah xxv. 8. Sweet flowers are springing no mortal can see, 3 “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; So, deep in my soul the still prayer of devotion, neither sball there be any more pain."-Rev. xxi. 4. Unheard by the world, rises silent to thee,

4"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make

all things new."- Rev. xxi. 5. My God! silent to thee

5 “And whosoever will, let him take the water of life Pure, warm, silent, to thee :

freely."'- Rev. xxii. 17.

6 The Scriptures having declared that the Temple of So, deep in my soul the still prayer of devotion,

Jerusalem was a type of the Messiah, it is natural to conUnheard by the world, rises silent to thee! clude that the Palms, which made so conspicuous a figure

in that structure, represented that Life and Immortality 1 " And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and which were brought to light by the Gospel."--Observations the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to on the Palm, as a sacred Emblem, by W. Tighe. them, but it gave light by night to these.”—Exod. xiv. 20. 7 " And he carved all the walls of the house round about My application of this passage is borrowed from some late with carved figures of cherubims, and palm-trees, and open prose writer, whose name I am ungrateful enough to forget. flowers.”1 Kings vi. 29.

2 Instead of“ On Egypt” here, it will suit the music bet- 8“ When the passover of the tabernacles was revealed to ter to sing "On these;" and in the third line of the next the great law-giver in the mount, then the cherubic images verse, "While shrouded” may, with the same view, be al- which appeared in that structure were no longer surrounded tered to " While wrapp'd."

by flames; for the tabernacle was a type of the dispensation 3" Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved of mercy, by which Jehovah confirmed his gracious cove much."-St. Luke vii. 47.

nant to redeem mankind."--Observations on the Palm

Oh God! we feel the emblem true,-
Thy mercy is eternal too!
Those cherubs with their smiling eyes,
That crown of palm which never dies,
Are but the types of thee above-
Eternal Life, and Peace, and Love!

But long as Love, almighty Love,

Shall on his throne of thrones abide,
Thou shalt, oh! Charity, dwell above,

Smiling for ever by his side.

BEHOLD THE SUN.

Air-LORD MORNINGTON.
BEHOLD the sun, how bright

From yonder east he springs,
As if the soul of life and light

Were breathing from his wings.

OH FAIR! OH PUREST!
SAINT AUGUSTINE TO HIS SISTER, 1

Air-Moore.
On fair! oh purest! be thou the dove
That flies alone to some sunny grove,
And lives unseen, and bathes her wing,
All vestal white in the limpid spring.
There, if the hovering hawk be near,
That limpid spring in its mirror clear
Reflects him ere he can reach his prey,
And warns the timorous bird away.

Oh! be like this dove;
Oh fair! oh purest ! be like this dove.

So bright the gospel broke

Upon the souls of men;
So fresh the dreaming world awoke

In truth's full radiance then!

Before yon sun arose,

Stars cluster'd through the sky,
But oh how dim, how pale were those,

To his one burning eye!
So truth lent many a ray,

To bless the Pagan's night-
But, Lord, how weak, how cold were they

To thy one glorious light!

The sacred pages of God's own book
Shall be the spring, the eternal brook,
In whose holy mirror, night and day,
Thou wilt study Heaven's reflected ray :-
And should the foes of virtue dare,
With gloomy wing, to seek thee there,
Thou wilt see how dark their shadows lie
Between heaven and thee, and trembling Ay!

Oh ! be like the dove;
Oh fair! oh purest ! be like the dove.

LORD, WHO SHALL BEAR THAT DAY.

Air-Dr. BOYCE.
LORD, who shall bear that day, so dread, so splendid,

When we shall see thy angel hovering o'er
This sinful world, with hand to heaven extended,

And hear him swear by thee that time's no more ?"
When earth shall see thy fast-consuming ray-
Who, mighty God, oh who shall bear that day?

No. II.

3

ANGEL OF CHARITY.

When thro' the world thy awful call hath soundedAir-HANDEL.

“Wake, oh ye dead, to judgment wake, ye dead !"2

And from the clouds, by seraph eyes surrounded, ANGEL of Charity, who from above

The Saviour shall put forth his radiant head ; 3 Comest to dwell a pilgrim here,

While earth and heaven before him pass away_4 Thy voice is music, thy smile is love,

Who, mighty God, oh who shall bear that day? And pity's soul is in thy tear! When on the shrine of God were laid

When, with a glance, the eternal Judge shall sever First-fruits of all most good and fair,

Earth's evil spirits from the pure

and bright, That ever grew in Eden's shade,

And say to those, “ Depart from me for ever!”
Thine was the holiest offering there!

To these, “ Come, dwell with me in endless light!"5 Hope and her sister, Faith, were given

1 "And the Angel which I saw stand upon the sea and But as our guides to yonder sky;

upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by Soon as they reach the verge of heaven,

Him that liveth for ever and ever, that there should be time Lost in that blaze of bliss, they die.?

no longer."--Rev. x. 5, 6.

? "Awake, ye dead, and come to judgment.”

3“They shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds 1 In St. Augustine's treatise upon the advantages of a of heaven and all the angels with him.”—Matt. xxiv. 30,

and xxv. 31. solitary life, addressed to his sister, there is the following

4. “From his face the earth and the heaven fled away." fanciful passage, from which the thought of this song was

- Rev. xx. 11. taken :-"Te, soror, nunquam nolo esse securam, sed ti

5 " And before him shall be gathered all nations, and He mere, semperque tuam fragilitatem habere suspectam, ad instar pavidæ columbæ frequentare rivos aquarum et quasi

shall separate them one from another. in speculo accipitris cernere supervolantis effigiem et ca

“Then shali the king say unto them on his right band, vere. Rivi aquarum sententiæ sunt scripturarum, quæ de Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prelimpidissimo sapientia fonte profluentes,” etc. etc.- De Vit. pared for you, etc. Eremit. ad Sororem.

“Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, De

part from me, ye cursed, etc. 2 " Then Faith shall fail, and holy Hope shall die, "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment;

One lost in certainty, and one in joy."--Prior. but the righteous into life eternal.”-Matt. xxv. 32, et seq.

When each and all in silence take their way-
Who, mighty God, oh who shall bear that day?

LIKE MORNING, WHEN HER EARLY

BREEZE.

Air-BEETHOVEN. OH! TEACH ME TO LOVE THEE.

LIKE morning, when her early breeze

Breaks up the surface of the seas,
Air-Haydn.

That, in their furrows, dark with night,
Oh! teach me to love thee, to feel what thou art, Her hand may sow the seeds of light-
Till, fill'd with the one sacred image, my heart
Shall other passions disown-

Thy grace can send its breathings o'er
Like some pure temple that shines apart,

The spirit, dark and lost before,
Reserved for thy worship alone!

And, freshening all its depths, prepare

For truth divine to enter there! In joy and in sorrow, through praise and through

Till David touch'd his sacred lyre, blame,

In silence lay the unbreathing wire-
Oh still let me, living and dying the same,

But when he swept its chords along,
In thy service bloom and decay-

Even angels stoop'd to hear that song.
Like some lone altar, whose votive flame
In holiness wasteth away!

So sleeps the soul, till thou, O Lord,

Shall deign to touch its lifeless chord-
Though born in this desert, and doom'd by my birth, Till, waked by thee, its breath shall rise
To pain and affliction, to darkness and dearth,

In music, worthy of the skies!
On thee let my spirit rely-
Like some rude dial, that, fix'd on earth,
Still looks for its light from the sky!

COME, YE DISCONSOLATE.

Air-German.

COME, ye disconsolate, where'er you languish,
WEEP, CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.

Come, at the shrine of God fervently kneel;
Air-STEVENSON.

Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your are WEEP, weep for him, the man of God

guishIn yonder vale he sunk to rest,

Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal. But none of earth can point the sod?

Joy of the desolate, light of the straying,
That flowers above his sacred head.

Hope, when all others die, fadeless and pure,
Weep, children of Israel, weep!

Here speaks the Comforter, in God's name saying

“Earth has no sorrows that Heaven cannot cure." His doctrines fell like heaven's rain, 3

His words refresh'd like heaven's dew- Go, ask the infidel, what boon he brings us, Oh, ne'er shall Israel see again

What charm for aching hearts he can reveal, A chief to God and her so true.

Sweet as that heavenly promise Hope sings usWeep, children of Israel, weep!

“Earth has no sorrow that God cannot heal."

Remember ye his parting gaze,

His farewell song by Jordan's tide, When, full of glory and of days,

AWAKE, ARISE, THY LIGHT IS COME.
He saw the promised land—and died !4

Air-STEVENSON.
Weep, children of Israel, weep!

Awake, arise, thy light is come;'

The nations, that before outshone thee,
Yet died he not as men who sink,

Now at thy feet lie dark and dumb
Before our eyes, to soulless clay;

The glory of the Lord is on thee!
But, changed to spirit, like a wink
Of summer lightning, pass'd away!5

Arise--the Gentiles, to thy ray,
Weep, children of Israel, weep!

From every nook of earth shall cluster;

And kings and princes haste to pay 1 " And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the Their homage to thy rising lustre.? plains of Moab.”-Deut. xxxiv. 8. 2 “And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab:

Lift

up

thine eyes around, and see, but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day."-Ibid.

O'er foreign fields, o'er farthest waters, ver. 6.

3 “My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall Thy exiled sons return to thee, distil as the dew."--Moses' Song.

To thee return thy home-sick daughters.3 4 "I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither."'--Ver. 5.

5 “As he was going to embrace Eleazer and Joshua, and 1 "Arise, shine ; for thy light is come, and the glory of was still discoursing with them, a cloud stood over him on the Lord is risen upon thee."--Isaiah lx. the sudden, and he disappeared in a certain valley, although 2 " And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to he wrote in the Holy Books, that he died, which was done the brightness of thy rising.”—Isaiah lx. out of fear, lest they should venture to say that, because of 3 “Lift up thine eyes round about and see; all they gather his extraordinary virtue, he went to God.”-Josephus, Book themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come iv. chap. viii.

from afar, and

thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side."-Ib

And camels rich, from Midian's tents,

There is a lone Pilgrim, before whose faint eyes Shall lay their treasures down before thee; The water he pants for but sparkles and flies And Saba bring her gold and scents,

Who may that Pilgrim be?
To fill thy air, and sparkle o'er thee.' 'T is Man, hapless Man, through this life tempted on

By fair shining hopes, that in shining are gone.
See who are these that, like a cloud,
Are gathering from all earth's dominions,

There is a bright Fountain, through that Desert stealLike doves, long absent, when allow'd

ing Homeward to shoot their trembling pinions.

To pure lips alone its refreshment revealing-
Surely the isles shall wait for me,3

What may that Fountain be?
The ships of Tarshish round will hover,

'Tis Truth, holy Truth, that, like springs under To bring thy sons across the sea,

ground, ind waft their gold and silver over. By the gifted of Heaven alone can be found." And Lebanon, thy pomp shall grace_4

There is a fair Spirit, whose wand hath the spell The fir, the pine, the palm victorious

To point where those waters in secrecy dwellShall beautify our Holy Place,

Who may that Spirit be?
And make the ground I tread on glorious.

'T is Faith, humble Faith, who hath learn’d that, No more shall discord haunt thy ways,

where'er Nor ruin waste thy cheerless nation;

Her wand stoops to worship, the Truth must be there But thou shalt call thy portals, Praise,

And thou shalt name thy walls, Salvation.
The sun no more shall make thee bright,

SINCE FIRST THY WORD.
Nor moon shall lend her lustre to thee;

Air-NICHOLAS FREEMAN.
But God Himself shall be thy Light,

SINCE first thy word awaked my heart,
And flash eternal glory through thee.

Like new life dawning o'er me,
Thy sun shall never more go down;

Where'er I turn mine eyes, Thou art,
A ray, from heav'n itself descended,

All light and love before me.
Shall light thy everlasting crown-

Nought else I feel, or hear or see-
Thy days of mourning all are ended.”

All bonds of earth I sever

Thee, oh God, and only Thee
My own, elect, and righteous Land!

I live for, now and ever.
The Branch, for ever green and vernal,
Which I have planted with this hand-

Like him, whose fetters dropp'd away
Live thou shalt in Life Eternal.8

When light shone o'er his prison,
My spirit, touch'd by Mercy's ray,

Hath from her chains arisen.
THERE IS A BLEAK DESERT.

And shall a soul Thou bid'st be free

a Air-CRESCENTINI.

Return to bondage ?-never! THERE is a bleak Desert, where daylight grows

Thee, oh God, and only Thee

I live for, now and ever.
weary
Of wasting its smile on a region so dreary-

What may that Desert be?
Tis Life, cheerless Life, where the few joys that come

HARK! 'T IS THE BREEZE.
Are lost, like that daylight, for’t is not their home.

Air-ROUSSEAU. 1 " The multitude of camels shall cover thee; the drome- HARK !—'t is the breeze of twilight calling daries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and incense.”Isaiah lx.

Earth's weary children to repose ; 2. "Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves While, round the couch of Nature falling, to their windows?"-Ib. 3" Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of

Gently the night's soft curtains close. Tarebish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and

Soon o'er a world, in sleep reclining, their gold with them."-16.

Numberless stars, through yonder dark, 4 " The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee; the fir

Shall look, like eyes of cherubs shining tred, the pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will make the place of my feet

From out the veils that hid the Ark ! glorious."-16.

5 " Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting Guard us, oh Thou, who never sleepest, nor destruction within thy borders ; but thou shalt call thy

Thou who, in silence throned above, walls, Salvation, and thy gates, Praise.”—Ib.

6 “Thy sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for Throughout all time, unwearied, keepest brightness shall the moon give light unto thee; but the Lord Thy watch of Glory, Power, and Love. shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory."-16.

7'" Thy sun shall no more go down ; for the Lord shall be 1 In singing, the following line had better be adopted thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended."--10.

“Can but by the gifted of heaven be found.” 8 “Thy people also shall be all righteous; they shall in- 2 " And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, herit the land for ever, the branch of

my planting, the work and a light shined in the prison, and his chains fell off from of my hands."--Ib.

his hands."---Acts xii. 7.

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